Why I Serve

Matthew 25:34-40 NKJV “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

About 3 years ago, still unsure of where God was leading me to spend the last decade of my nursing career, I found myself tagging along with my husband, Ron, helping people get free tablets, mobile devices, or cellphones. We were invited to come to Matthew’s Hope Ministries. Curious about what people do to help the homeless community, I was intently observing. We visited a few times, and then I discovered that they had a clinic in the back with one full-time RN who happens to be the Director herself, along with a handful of retired nurse volunteers. She found out that I have an active, unencumbered RN license at the same time. I was curious what nursing care is provided in their clinic. We were briefly introduced and an interview was scheduled. She was a breath of fresh air. Her values, principles and direction for the clinic were simple yet purpose-driven. I was drawn to her immediately and shortly thereafter I was hired full-time

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Now fast forward about a couple of months ago, I was informed that I was one of the ones picked to be featured in the Moving Forward Magazine. I was surprised, humbled but bold to accept such a task. One of the questions I was asked to address was, “Of all of the places to work as an RN, why Matthew’s Hope Ministries?” I had to really think hard because usually people tend to work for better pay, especially towards the end of their careers. For me it didn’t happen. I even took a cut in my salary when I accepted the job, first as the clinic nurse then later promoted to the Clinic Nurse Manager.

So back to the question, “Why Matthew’s Hope?” Well, before I tell you that it was all God’s direction, most of you, if not all, do not know this dark part of my life. (Now that I have everyone’s attention.) I have a sister (you see there are 6 of us, siblings; 4 girls in a row and 2 boys after.) I’m the second child and this sister of mine is right after me. We were only one year apart. She was almost born the same day as I was, until my mom begged her OBGyn to wait until after midnight to deliver her, which the doctor grudgingly obliged. So, I was born March 4th & she was born March 5th.

We were what people called, “Irish Twins”. One would think we were close, but we were two very different people and often fought like cats and dogs! We parted ways from the rest of our siblings when we got married but I managed to stay close with the rest in Chicago. She went to California. At 45, we heard that she became homeless. We all reached out to her wanting to have her back in Chicago. But she flatly refused and wished to be left alone. Just four years after that, we heard word from one of her close friends that she suffered from a hemorrhagic cerebral aneurysm (a stroke) that ended her life. She collapsed with a blood pressure of 210/120 and didn’t wake up when she was brought to the closest ER then to ICU.

That was my, “Why?” … I know I will never grow old with my sister; I will never do a kind act to her like giving her warm, home-cooked meal; I will never see her earn money via day labor or recycling scrap metals; I will never learn that she found shelter in encampments, vehicles or transitional housing; I will never know that she’s accessing public resources like libraries & free clinics like Matthew’s Hope to help her maintain basic needs…

…But I see my sister in the guests at Matthew’s Hope, maybe the single woman, man, mother, father, or unaccounted for individual, for that matter, that I missed the chance to do every good thing I could’ve done!

That’s WHY I serve; that’s WHY WE SERVE at Matthew’s Hope!